johnceggleston

it will run, the heads will work, but it will not have the needed egr system so you'll have a cel. but if it is a rally car it may not matter.

i let mine idle for a long time. the engine had been sitting for over a year and i was afraid it was not a good engine, i had never heard it run. but it was in and i had nothing to lose so i let it idle, 30 - 40 minutes a day for several days. it finally quieted down and has run great for over a year / 15k now. don't panic, give it time.

thanks for the links, i bookmarked them. i was just surprised to see what i thought were new gaskets when i looked on my car. and just because the gaskets are not original does not mean they will go 150k miles. but it would be nice when looking at a car to buy to at least have a clue of what to look for.

that's not the knock sensor, i don't think. it's in the back near the throttle body. it could be the oil pressure sender, maybe.

who has a link to the shop website in the NW? that posts the pics, causes, and fixes for the head gaskets. they even talked about the multi-layer and a new, new gasket for a late model subie. anyway that is the best site for pics i can remember of the 'new' and original head gaskets. and there are differences which you may be able to see with the engine in the car. specifically the top corners, front and rear. the originals have round holes in the corners, i think. the 'new' one have a rectangular stamp? in the corners. if you can find the corners on your engine you may be able to tell if it is old or new. has any one else seen this difference? or looked for it? has any one else been able to see, with the engine in the car, that the hgs have been changed? differences in the hg would be easier to see from below, there is less stuff in the way, but from what i could tell there are fewer if any differences in the bottom of the gaskets. i looked for new or old on my 97 obw and i did see the rectangular stamp on the rear top corner of the passenger side head. this gives me hope that the gaskets have been done but i have no confirmnation other than the fact that the car has 135k miles and no gunk in the coolant and no overheating. i bought it at 98k, it has piston slap, and i assumed the gaskets had not been done. but when comparing the pics of the new and old gaskets i decided to take a look. now i'm hopeful and worried i may be setting my self up for disappointment. but i got the car cheap and had a replacement engine waiting for it to overheat. i'm still waiting.

this is a link to the converter part number page, click on usage info for the legacy, it is used in both outbacks and lego L models. http://opposedforces.com/parts/info/44111AC241/

search "diffcheck". you will find a thread with a way to check to see if the front and rear diffs match. i still would have thought that the FWD fuse would have cured the problem but who knows. clunking could maybe be an axle???? i don't know. i don't quite know where to start. maybe a dealer or 'good' subie mechanic diagnosis, just to eliminate some things. you don't have to get them to do the repairs, just get a price quote.

be sure you remove the head bots i the proper order to avoid warping th heads. search 'head bolt procedure' , i think, for a recent thread.

john newton, tricked919 may have heads in good conditin which you could buy and install. they came off of his 97 outback, he just bought it with new head gaskets when it developed a rod knock. (this is not uncommon in ej25s that have been severly over heated.) contact him, maybe you can save some money. do you need both or only one head? or do you know?

john newton might could use your threads if price is right and shipping from nc to tx isn't too much. this thread: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=112858&highlight=valves

how did the vac hoses work out? any left hanging or plugged? congrats on the swap. ps: there may be someone on the board who needs a good head or 2. (but he may have already pulled his and sent them to the machine shop.) i'll have to look for the thread, you could save him some bucks and pay back your self some bucks.

your symptoms are not typical, at least they are new to me. i do not see how you can have binding if the rear wheels are not engaged or driving. but aside from that if the fuse is in and if FWD is lit then the duty c is probably working. i say that because my son's 95 lego had occasional binding and blinking AT Temp light at start up. sometimes the FWD light would come on and solve the binding and some times it was off and he had binding. we finally pulled the rear section of the drive shaft and he's happy with a FWD car. even after we pulled the drive shaft, we left the fuse in and he reports that occasionally the FWD light comes on but usually he gets a flashing AT Temp at start up. so back to you, i think if the FWD light is on the duty c is working. i think your problem is a gummed up valve body and / or gummed up clutch plates. i don't really know. and i think the only way for you to be sure is to replace everything in the transfer clutch housing, solenoid valve assembly and the clutch plates. but this is all based on my limited experience. if it were mine i'd be driving it as a FWD car with the rear section of drive shaft out. and i'd search for a bad trans with, if possible, a known good transfer clutch and plan on installing it with a new duty c before winter. second to that i'd look for any ole rear extension housing, they all pretty much interchange, and inspect it and prep it with a new duty c for a fall swap. but that's just me. if you live in a subaru area, ne, nw, pa, you should be able to find a good rear housing for cheap. or look on craigslist for a car with a bad trans that they are parting out. good luck.

you still have torque bind after putting in the FWD fuse.? does the FWD light come on in the dash display? i'm not 100% sure 90 - 94s have it but the 95 - 99s do. the light should come on when you first turn the key when all the dash lights are tested, and then stay on when the fuse is in. what i'm getting at is you may have more than just a bad duty c solenoid. you could have gummed up clutch plates. on 95 - 99 legos, if the duty c is bad you will get a flashing AT Temp light on the dash. yours may be a different light but it should be lit as a warning indicator. i think you can get the duty c and 2 valve assembly gaskets (exact same gasket needed 2 times) for less (~ 80$ plus shipping) at https://www.subarugenuineparts.com/oe_parts_cat.html . you do not need the rear extension transfer case gasket, just use rtv ultra gray. take the individual part numbers from the partsforyou site and plug them in at genuinesubaru. don't forget to figure the shipping. if the fluid change helped, maybe give it some time and do it again?? EDIT: i just looked up the parts pricing and they are about the same. the duty c for a 95 is cheaper, but 96 - 98 are not much if any. i cannot believe that there is much difference in the duty c from 95 to 96 but you do not wan to go through this and have it not fix the problem. if it is gummed up, and the duty c still works, i wonder if a good cleaning of the valve body would help.?

the bolt certainly. i do not really see how the mass of the knuckle could break, but i feel like i have read about it happening, so just be careful and take it easy. if both the ball joint and the knuckle were new, you would not need to "pry" it open but with age things get dirty and rusty. and you have to completely remove the pinch bolt, just loosening will not work. and the other end of the bolt hole is open, spray it and the middle too.

sorta, the ej22 was / is a single cam engine. unlike your ej25 which is a dual cam engine. yours has 2 lobes on each side of the engine instead of just one. but in 99 - 00 the ej25 went to single cam. so if you stick with the 95 - 98 body style and the engine has one cam on each side it is a go. 95 - 96 have a sticker on the door jamb listing the build date and vin, 97 - 98 do not have the sticker. so look for the body style, look at the engine , look for the build date sticker. if it matches all 3 you are good to go. then double check with the id plate on the driver side strut tower, this will confirm it is an ej22 but not the year. the ej22 was also in SOME imprezas in the 90s. check the id tag. (ps: 95s have a S in the vin near the middle, 96s have a T, 97s a V, 98 = W) again, you want an engine from a auto trans car.

i guess it could be but usually they do not leak. it could be the oil pump / o-ring, crank seal, cam seals, cam cap o-rings, and /or the oil seperator plate on the rear of the engine behind the flex plate. all of these leak over time. forgot to include the valve cover gaskets. when the timing covers come off look for oil stains. when the engine comes out replace all of the above. if it is dripping on the ground, i vote for the oil pump, but do them all anyway. by the way, does any one know the direction of flow for the oil?? does the oil suck up from the pan through the o-ring or does it pump out to the engine through the o-ring??

search for posts by user tricked919 he's working on a swap right now and has asked virtually all the question you are just starting to ask. he has started several threads over the last couple of weeks. read them from oldest to newest. and you will get a good education. then if you still need help, ask, that's why we are here. basically you want a 95 - 98 2.2L from an auto trans car. some are easier than others, but read up and then ask.

yes, the exhaust leaks into the coolant, that includes gases, oils and unburned fuel. this shows up as really black junk in the overflow. one i saw looked like the inside of the overflow had been sprayed with bed liner. i would look for a good 2.2L engine, less work and money.

i wouldn't put in a EJ25 with out replacing the head gaskets first. and go for the ones in the wrecks first, they are more likely to have been running well at the end and not overheated. check for gunk in the radiator overflow bottle, if it is there.

if the strut bolts are still in and the sway bar has been disconnected you should be able to pry down on the control arm and leave the knuckle hanging. but my lower ball joint was problematic so i removed the whole knuckle and then remove the ball joint.. note: after i got the pinch bolt out, use lots of pblaster and be patient, i drove a large screw driver as a wedge in the gap to spread it a bit to loosen it up. not too much, i have heard of one side busting off.

i think i'd drive it back. running rough is running and a second driver could be as easy as '' honey, lets go for a drive...." or better yet, take your tools and set the timing belt correctly and then drive it back. the slow/ hard part will be compressing the tensioner, see other post. remove valve covers, crank pulley, one idler, set the timing correctly, put it back together. you can always rent a tow dolly and haul it if you can't fix it or drive it.

go to lowes and buy a large c clamp. make sure it is large enough. crank it slowly, 1/8 turn every 10 seconds.

3 online subaru parts suppliers. https://www.chaplinssubarugenuineparts.com/oe_parts_cat.html http://www.subarupartsforyou.com/ http://www.1stsubaruparts.com/ suggestion: there are tons of bad 2.5L engines around with bad head gaskets. usually the heads off of these only need to be checked for flatness and re-installed. some need to be machined. having the heads checked and milled may be cheaper than replacing valves. but until you know which and how many cylinders need valves you will not have anything to compare. call a machine shop and see what it takes to have a head checked. one shop that does a fair number of these told me that these heads are so short that they almost never warp, but i do not know if this is true. 2 questions for the rest of the board: how often do overheated 2.5L engines need to have the heads milled? is it a good or bad idea to use "used" valves as replacements, just wondering?

chances are that it is a "manual" button. it has to do with what gear the auto trans stays in. i don't really know, when i owned a 03 i wasn't paying attention to the details. i didn't even read the owners manual, i just drove it . the 95 - 99? auto trans do not have the button. but when you put it in 1 it stays in 1, when you put it in 2 it stays in 2 (never in 1), when you put it in 3 it will shift automatically up from 1 to2 to 3 as needed (but never in 4). any way, the manual button has some function similar to that, i think. be sure to look under the car for the drive shaft and rear differential. you don't want to be disappointed when you get it home. does this car run??? why not?

except for the fact that you don't have any money, a valve job on a 115k 2.5L outback is not a bad investment, and probably 1/3 to 1/2 the cost of the quoted engine. even less if you and your dad do it together. plus, the only draw back to this engine is the potential for the head gaskets to fail, so doing the valves will eliminate that potential and you will have a car that will go 100k if not 150 or more. pull the engine, remove the heads and send them out to the machine shop, put it back together with all new timing belt parts and stick it back in the car. the machine shop will cost and the timing belt kit and head gaskets will cost but your labor is free. if you can do the timing belt you can probably do the head gaskets. your other option is to install a used 2.2L engine, but the shop will charge about the same as the 2.5L engine. you can do it your self, it's not hard, but you will still want to do a new timing belt kit so that adds to the cost. lots of folks here will give you 800$ for your car as is if you want rid of it.